Karuna

धूप

Dhup

1 min read 3 versesधूपगरीबीअसमानता

3 verses · ~1 min

सर्दियों की सुबह, उठ कर देखता हूँ[1] धूप गोया शहर के सारे घरों को जोड़ देती है

ग़ौर से देखें अगरचे धूप ऊँचे घरों के साये तले उत्तर दिशा में बसे कुछ छोटे घरों को छोड़ देती है ।

पूछ ले कोई कि किनकी छतों पर भोजन पकाती गर्म करती लान, औ ‘बिजली जलाती धूप आखिऱ नदी नालों के किनारे बसे इतने ग़रीबों से क्यों भला मुँह मोड़ लेती है.

इति

The Poet

नरेश सक्सेना

Naresh Saxena

1939 · 2001

Naresh Saxena holds a singular and fascinating position in contemporary Hindi literature as a man who brought the exactitude of science into the heart of poetry. Born in 1939 in Gwalior and trained as an engineer, he did not publish his first poetry collection, Samudra Par Ho Rahi Hai Baarish, until he was sixty one years old. Yet, his literary presence had already been firmly established through decades of publication in prestigious journals. Saxena writes with a unique physiological and environmental awareness. He constructs his poems not out of abstract romanticism, but from the physical mechanics of the natural world and the complex realities of modern survival. His language is spare, precise, and completely devoid of unnecessary ornamentation. Alongside his poetry, he is an acclaimed playwright whose drama Aadmi Ka Aa has been staged thousands of times, and a filmmaker who won a National Film Award for his directorial work. He demonstrates that a poet does not need to abandon the rational world to understand the human soul.

Read more from Naresh Saxena

Paired Painting

On the River, Benares

When Edwin Lord Weeks arrived in the ancient holy city of Varanasi, known then as Benares, he was deeply moved by the living spirituality woven into every stone of the riverside ghats. Unlike many Western travelers who viewed the East through a distant exotic lens, Weeks approached India with profound reverence and painstaking observational care. He stood on boats in the middle of the sacred Ganges to capture the delicate morning light as it bathed the majestic sandstone steps, soaring temples, and quiet devotion of daily life. In this breathtaking masterwork, the shimmering reflections on the holy river reflect not just light, but centuries of faith, renewal, and quiet human dignity. Devotees gather under woven bamboo umbrellas, perform daily ablutions, and converse along the waters, while grand architectural facades rise proudly into the brilliant sapphire sky. The painting stands as a deeply respectful testament to the enduring eternal spirit of Kashi, preserved forever through the artist's empathetic brush.

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